The first Global Day Against Pain on October 11,2004,focused attention on the worldwide undertreatment of acute and chronic pain.It also called for pain control to be recognized as a major public health issue and human right (Bond and Breivik 2004;Brennan and Cousins 2004).This year,the IASP Global Day Against Pain in Children on October 17,2005 will focus upon children s pain. There is an urgent need to improve children s pain treatment,both for humanitarian and ethical reasons and because pain affects not only children s health but potentially may contribute to their disability and suffering later in life (Walco et al.2003;Franck 2002).

The United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child recognizes that children are a vulnerable segment of the population,and are entitled to special consideration in all respects,including health care.Despite this recognition, inadequate prevention and relief of children s pain is still widespread.This failure reflects shortcomings in recognizing children s ability to perceive,respond to, and be harmed by pain;exaggerated fears of the side effects of analgesics and anesthetics in children;and lack of resources to provide training for clinicians and treatments for children.

This issue of Pain:Clinical Updates discusses the imperative for the treatment of pain in childhood and provides a summary of some accessible guidelines and resources.It draws upon a Position Statement (www.iasp-pain.org/GlobalDay-2005.htm)prepared by the Council of the IASP Special Interest Group (SIG)for Pain in Childhood,and is intended to support a year-long effort by the IASP and the SIG to improve the global standard of children s pain management.Although a great deal is now known about the physiology and management of children s pain (McGrath 2005),many barriers hinder the application of that knowledge to clinical care.Research is urgently needed to clarify the many aspects of children s pain and its management that remain poorly understood.